Two weeks of almost daily fishing tested my gear to the max. Time to pamper it a bit with a through tuneup. What's your preferred method for avoiding the problems of the salt? I typically soak the reels in a warm lightly soapy basin for about 30 minutes followed by a coldwater rinse, air dry on the bench and then WD-40 on all the moving parts before reassembly.
Do you remove your flylines and clean them separatly? Any treatment or coating?

Eddie

08-26-2001, 10:53 PM

I'm not so sure about wd40. It seems kind of light. Pen makes a good all around lube, and I have used super lube with good results.
There are a few good specialty line dressings on the market; Russ Peak's is very good, very slick. I have heard that Armour All works, but then I have heard that it is not good for the line. Any one else?

Bob Pink

08-27-2001, 06:50 AM

I've avoided using the Penn (or similar) lubes on my flyreels as it seems too viscous. I like the lighter oils which seem to provided more corrosion protection as well as a thin film of lubricant....

juro

08-27-2001, 11:01 AM

I guess I am old school in this respect, I use thick lubes on spool shafts and thin oils on other moving parts like handle shafts, etc. I do not use any exterior protectant, machined anodized bar stock reels seem to hold their own with a good cleaning.

I clean off any factory lube and use lithium grease on the spool shaft, it lasts almost a whole season. I pay particular attention to the spool release device, cleaning it regularly and lubing it so that some squirt thru the little release thing. Wipe it clean and push the spool on and off a few times till it stops. Then I silicone over the screw heads that attach the reel foot, because they are seldom removed from the rod and can corrode in the hard-to-flush space between rod and reel foot.

I spray or drop oil lube the handle so it spins nice on the shaft once in a while.

I also use lube on the click pawl which is a leaf spring device; but if it gets old it cancels out the click. This requires maintenance about once for every second spool shaft greasing.

Delrin drags require zero lubrication, in fact you can mess them up with lube. So the drag surfaces are never greased or oiled, just kept clean. Cork drags require the extra maint, but well worth it.

Between trips I soak the reel and rinse the line afterwards assuming the salt as become soluable. I then put the hose on the reel spool so that it spins and throws water in a big diameter like a water wheel (you can get it to throw 6 feet if you want) I purposely change the direction of the water to slow it down, stop it, etc. Of course it only spins one way.

Once in a while I will strip the line into a full sink of water. Then at the end of the season I give everything a thorough treatment and put it away for the following April/May. I enjoyed having a reel ready for action at the spring clave.

I am a lousy car mechanic but I sure love to dissect reels and put them back together! Unlike the car I never end up with spare parts ;)